Jodie Comer, Theatr Clwyd and More Win 2026 UK Theatre Awards

The winners of the UK Theatre Awards 2026 were revealed a ceremony hosted by La Voix. For over 30 years, this annual event has celebrated the creative excellence and outstanding achievements seen on and off stage throughout England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Theatr Clwyd was this year's most-awarded venue, winning the sought-after UK's Most Welcoming Theatre Award, as well as Excellence in Touring sponsored by Theatre Tokens for Under Milk Wood. In further success for Wales, Our Town – a co-production between Rose Theatre and Michael Sheen's Welsh National Theatre – won Best Play Revival.

Best New Play sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance was awarded to The Last Stand Of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse (a Nottingham Playhouse, Eleanor Lloyd Productions & Kate Pakenham Productions co-production), with Birmingham Rep's Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street receiving Best Musical Production sponsored by Tysers Live. Completing the production awards, this year's Best Show for Children & Young People was Beauty And The Beast (a Citizens Theatre production).

Elsewhere in the on stage categories, Adrian Lester took home the award for Best Performance in a Play for Cyrano De Bergerac (a Royal Shakespeare Company production), with Best Performance in a Musical going to Julianne Pundan for Miss Saigon (a Cameron Mackintosh production in association with Michael Harrison), and Gloria Obianyo receiving the award for Best Supporting Performance (in a Musical or Play) for As You Like It, part of the Ralph Fiennes season at Theatre Royal Bath.

The creatives recognised this year were Tom Littler, winning Best Director for Love's Labour's Lost & Much Ado About Nothing (a Guildford Shakespeare Company & Orange Tree Theatre co-production), and Ceci Calf, winning Best Design for the Set & Costume Design of The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher (a Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse production). Rounding off the on stage awards, Yorke Dance Project won Achievement in Dance for Modern Milestones, and Achievement in Opera went to English Touring Opera for the ambition and breadth of their programming in venues across the country.

Joining Theatr Clwyd in the off stage categories, winning venues were Buxton Opera House – receiving the Excellence in Arts Education award for Connecting For Creativity –, The Theatre Chipping Norton for Excellence in Inclusivity, Mercury Theatre for Excellence in Sustainability, and Blackpool Grand Theatre for Excellence in Workforce Culture.

As previously announced, Jodie Comer was the recipient of the inaugural Outstanding Achievement in British Theatre Award for her work on the UK tour of Prima Facie, and the late Alan Finch CBE was honoured at the ceremony, with his family accepting the Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre Award on his behalf, recognising his extraordinary contribution to the industry both regionally and nationally.
 

Full list of winners and nominees for the UK Theatre Awards 2026 sponsored by Encore:

Best Musical Production

WINNER: Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, a Birmingham Rep production

NOMINATED:

Calendar Girls The Musical, a Stephen Joseph Theatre, Theatre by the Lake, New Wolsey Theatre & Octagon Theatre Bolton co-production

The High Life – The Musical: Still Living It!, a National Theatre of Scotland & Dundee Rep Theatre co-production in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts and Capital Theatres

Kiss Of The Spider Woman, a Curve, Bristol Old Vic & Mayflower Southampton co-production

Best New Play

WINNER: The Last Stand Of Mrs. Mary Whitehouse, a Nottingham Playhouse, Eleanor Lloyd Productions & Kate Pakenham Productions co-production

NOMINATED:

Black Sheep, a curious directive production at Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds & New Wolsey Theatre

The Manningtree Witches, a Mercury Original in association with Frantic Assembly, supported by Eleanor Lloyd Productions, Eilene Davidson Productions and Mark Gordon Pictures

Best Play Revival

WINNER: Our Town, a Rose Theatre & Welsh National Theatre co-production

NOMINATED:

Road, a Royal Exchange Theatre production

Small Island, a Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep & Nottingham Playhouse co-production in association with Actors Touring Company

Best Director

WINNER: Tom Littler for Love's Labour's Lost & Much Ado About Nothing, a Guildford Shakespeare Company & Orange Tree Theatre co-production

NOMINATED:

Abigail Graham for Living, a Sheffield Theatres production

Emma Jordan for The Human Voice, a Prime Cut Productions production at Lyric Theatre Belfast

Best Performance in a Musical

WINNER: Julianne Pundan for Miss Saigon, a Cameron Mackintosh production in association with Michael Harrison

NOMINATED:

Hadley Fraser for My Fair Lady, a Chichester Festival Theatre production

Annette McLaughlin for Follies, a Northern Ireland Opera production at Grand Opera House, Belfast

Best Performance in a Play

WINNER: Adrian Lester for Cyrano De Bergerac, a Royal Shakespeare Company production

NOMINATED:

Isis Hainsworth for Measure For Measure, a Royal Shakespeare Company production

Katie Redford & Benedict Salter for Scenes From A Friendship, a Nottingham Playhouse production

Best Supporting Performance (in a Musical or Play)

WINNER: Gloria Obianyo for As You Like It, as part of the Ralph Fiennes / Theatre Royal Bath season

NOMINATED:

Ash Hunter for The Meat Kings! (Inc.) Of Brooklyn Heights, a Papatango Theatre Company & Park Theatre co-production

Lydia Louise for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a Watermill Theatre production

Best Design

WINNER: Ceci Calf (Set & Costume Design) for The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher, a Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse production

NOMINATED:

Jenny Booth (Set & Costume Design), Garry Boyle (Sound Design), Daniel Hughes (Creative Captioning) & Emma Jones (Lighting Design) for The Singer, a Dundee Rep Theatre & Solar Bear co-production in association with Aberdeen Performing Arts

Terry Parsons (Set Design) for Jack And Sarah, a The Mill at Sonning production

Best Show for Children & Young People

WINNER: Beauty And The Beast, a Citizens Theatre production

NOMINATED:

No Such Thing As Wolves, a Birmingham Hippodrome production

Treasure Island, a Bristol Old Vic production

Achievement in Dance

WINNER: Yorke Dance Project for Modern Milestones

NOMINATED:

National Dance Company Wales for Surge | Gwefr

Scottish Ballet for Mary, Queen of Scots

Achievement in Opera

WINNER: English Touring Opera for the ambition and breadth of their programming in venues across the country

NOMINATED:

Jack Furness for his direction of The Flying Dutchman by Welsh National Opera

Scottish Opera for their commitment to championing new work through their productions of The Galloping Cure and The Great Wave

Excellence in Arts Education

WINNER: Connecting For Creativity, Buxton Opera House

NOMINATED:

Shine, Curve and the Randal Foundation

Talking Tales, Polka Theatre

Excellence in Touring

WINNER: Under Milk Wood, Theatr Clwyd

NOMINATED:

Caroline: A New Musical, East Anglian Touring Consortium

Gentleman Jack, Northern Ballet

Excellence in Inclusivity

WINNER: The Theatre Chipping Norton

NOMINATED:

National Youth Theatre

The Welcome Project, Northern Stage

Excellence in Sustainability

WINNER: Mercury Theatre

NOMINATED:

The Old Vic, Backstage

Theatr Clwyd

Excellence in Workforce Culture

WINNER: Blackpool Grand Theatre

NOMINATED:

Swindon Theatres

Wales Millennium Centre

UK's Most Welcoming Theatre

WINNER: Theatr Clwyd

NOMINATED:

Nottingham Playhouse

Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds

Outstanding Achievement in British Theatre

Jodie Comer

Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre

Alan Finch CBE